


Eschatology

by dodecahedrons



Category: The Book of Mormon - Parker/Stone/Lopez
Genre: Christian AU, Christian Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 11:51:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15364044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dodecahedrons/pseuds/dodecahedrons
Summary: Even though the world might not be ending just yet, it can sometimes feel like everything is crumbling around you. So is the life of Kevin Price.





	Eschatology

Rain poured in heavy waves throughout the morning, sometimes lessening up for just a moment before returning fiercer than before alongside a crack of thunder. The torrential downfall pounded against the roof of a small church in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah. Despite the population of Mormons in the area, this church wasn’t one that followed their beliefs. Rather, inside the small building no larger than a gas station, a congregation of evangelical Christians gathered.

At the pulpit stood a man who seemed to be getting older as the minutes passed. His grey hair had receded to leave a bald spot atop his head, offset by the greyish-white band of hair that wrapped around his temples like a natural headband. His glasses sat crookedly on his nose, jostling every time he made a sudden movement. His feeble voice boomed across the small sanctuary, giving everyone in the room no choice but to take notice of what he was saying.

“These are dark times,” his shaking voice stated, echoing into every corner of the room. “Christianity is under more scrutiny than it has been in these recent centuries. We’re almost like the first church again.”

The congregation remained silent, listening respectfully to their grey pastor speculate on the treatment of Christians in the modern day. Some moms nodded their head as their small children colored in generic, dollar-store coloring books with similarly cheap crayons clutched in hand. A particularly excitable older man clapped briefly before shouting “Amen!”

A teenage boy by the name of Kevin sat silent, looking at his hands as he twiddled his thumbs.

“These days- They’re much different. Sin is rampant in the streets. Of course, we all know this is a sign from the Lord, right?”

More scattered nodding and the occasional verbal agreement followed. Kevin nudged his mom with his elbow.

“What is it?” his mom quipped, looking at him a bit too harshly for someone at church. Thunder crashed and the lights in the room dimmed slightly for a moment before returning to normal.

“I need to excuse myself,” he responded, voice barely above a whisper. Before his mom could respond, he stood from his chair and quietly made his way down the center aisle, to a door in the back of the sanctuary. He was going to be 18 in a month, but he still had to sort of ask his mom for permission to use the restroom during service.

“Homosexuality. Marijuana. Transgenderism. All of these things being legalized and supported are a sign that the Lord has left our nation.”

His palms pressed against the doors, and he made his way through to the small lobby outside the sanctuary. He turned on his heel, making his way to the bathrooms to the right of the doors he just exited.

The pastor’s voice echoed over tinny speakers, poorly wired throughout the small building. The walls were thin enough that his voice could be heard - albeit muffledly - through the walls, so it created a sort of haunting echo as the boy made his way across the hall.

“If you look in the news, all you see is praise for these sins. That one Jenner dude who got praised for being a woman -  he’s not even a woman! You can’t change what God made you to be.”

He stood in front of the two bathrooms. The interiors were identical, the only thing separating the two from each other being the signs on the doors. He looked between them, and then behind himself, gulping as he did so.

“Changing what God made you to be is a perversion. We are a temple, we are here to serve God and to show him through our actions. How are we supposed to show God through… _that_?”

Kevin pressed his hand against the women’s restroom door as he heard muffled clapping in the sanctuary adjacent to him.

 

* * *

 

The car ride home was quiet, but this was to be expected. His mother and father rode in the front, discussing the sermon they’d just listened to on a level no less than surface. Kevin sat in the backseat, staring out the window as he tried to ignore his parents in favor of listening to the radio, almost too quiet to be considered useful. If they were just going to talk, they could either turn up the radio or turn it off completely - why have it on if you’re going to talk over it the whole time?

He turned, looking over at his brother, Jack. He watched as he played his GameBoy Advanced, the old screen barely bright enough to give any idea of what was going on. Tell-tale screeches from the almost muted speakers gave indication that he was playing Pokemon.

“Kids,” his father’s voice suddenly erupted from the front seat. Kevin jumped, but nonetheless he replied in unison with Jack.

“Yes?”

“We’re goin’ to IHOP. Y’all better be on your best behavior, you hear?”

“Okay.”

Really, what else was there to say? What were they supposed to do other than agree? Why even ask such ridiculous questions?

“We’re meeting with the McKinleys for lunch.”

The McKinleys. Kevin scrambled in his brain to remember why that surname sounded so familiar.

“I thought they were on vacation?” Jack asked, never looking up from the ongoing Pokemon battle he was in.

“They just got back this morning,” their father replied.

“Why weren’t they at church, then?”

“Traveling takes time, Jack.”

“I’m glad they’re back. The sermon today was boring.”

Ah. Now Kevin remembered.

The McKinleys were the Sunday school teachers. Or… Mrs. McKinley was, at least. Church had been lonely for the past weeks while they were gone. The sermons lately had been getting under Kevin’s skin. They seemed to have veered off the path of actually discussing Biblical lessons and values and become more directed on topical things. The pastor went on that long tirade about Caitlyn Jenner, but Kevin came out of it knowing nothing more than the fact the pastor didn’t respect her enough to use her actual name.

Sure, he was 17, but Sunday school was open to anyone under the age of 18. All it was was a sort of Bible study, meant for kids of similar age to gather and discuss the Word on their own terms. “Better for the young mind,” he remembered Mrs. McKinley saying one day. “You get to have God speak to you on an individual level.”

This meant his friend Connor was back in town too, of course. Connor was the only child of the McKinleys, and he was so fun to be around. He was a month older than Kevin, meaning he was already 18. Soon, he might not be in his mother’s class on Sundays anymore. The idea made Kevin kind of sad, but he ignored the feeling in his chest.

“We are, too. They wanna discuss something about the Sunday schools - among other things -  so we’re meeting with them. Like I said, I expect you two to be on your best behavior,” his father reinforced. Once he pulled into turn lane, behind cars stopped at a stop light, he turned in his chair momentarily to give Kevin a look.

“What?” Kevin asked. It was then he realized he was sitting with his arms crossed, looking at his father incredulously. He quickly put his arms to his sides, laughing nervously. His father raised an eyebrow and peered over his glasses before a honk behind him forced him to turn his attention to the now cleared road ahead of him.

The rest of the drive was unbearably quiet. Kevin’s heart pounded in his ears, obscuring the lowest possible radio broadcast ever as they rode along.

He had the strangest feeling this wasn’t going to be a good visit to IHOP.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some people???? write book of mormon au fanfiction???? to COPE????


End file.
